


Breathe

by tiedyeflag



Category: Clockwork (Webcomic)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, mouth to mouth cpr, smooches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-30
Updated: 2015-11-30
Packaged: 2018-05-04 03:16:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5318381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tiedyeflag/pseuds/tiedyeflag
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While exploring the sewers on a rescue mission, Gaz and Christian give each other help to breathe easy…somewhat.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Breathe

Murky, smelly water rushed through the sewers, with the sounds echoing off of the ancient brick walls spotted with patches of odd mold between the crevices. Along the walls were walkways for people to inspect the waterworks, doing their dirty jobs with a half-hearted dignity. The two men walking on them right now weren’t sewage inspectors, however; neither of them properly dressed for such a filthy place. Both wore long coats, one sleek and black, the other tattered and green. The one in black suddenly slipped on a wet patch and clumsily fell to the ground with a thud.

“Owch…” Christian hissed while propping himself up on his hands. When he looked up, he saw a familiar, cold piece of metal pointing at his face.

“Need a hand, Scientist?” Gaz sung. “Or should I saw crowbar?”

Rolling his eyes, Christian got to his feet without help and brushed off the front of his coat. “Remind me why we’re here again.”

“Come now, dear Scientist, you’re a smart man, I’m sure you remember?” Gaz flung an arm around Christian’s shoulders as he spoke, gesturing dramatically with his free hand as well.

“You sent Caelan and Alice to investigate some ‘funny business’ down in the sewers and they haven’t shown up for the past two days so now you’re trying to find them.”

“Precisely!” Gaz backed away with a flourish, looking ready to mockingly jump for joy. “After all, how else am I going to steal your fridge in the event of a spat between us?”

Christian huffed, regretting letting Gaz talk him into helping him search for two of his underlings. But, as he shuffled his feet, the thought of Caelan and Alice stuck somewhere-cold, soggy and hungry-filled him with worry. He fiddled with the corners of his beloved yellow scarf to relieve his anxiety.

“Do you have _any_ idea where they are, Gaz?”

“Down here in the sewers, most likely.”

Christian furrowed his brows. “I mean where in the sewers.”

“Not a clue.” Gaz shrugged.

Christian removed his glasses and pinched his nose. While he thought, Gaz crept closer stealthily. When Christian opened his eyes, he jumped at how close Gaz was; nearly an inch from his face, close enough to smell his unbrushed teeth.

“No time to waste, Scientist, let’s get going!” He grabbed Christian by the wrist and pulled him forward. “And since we may be down here for quite a while…” He glanced over his shoulder. “Why don’t you tell some science jokes to pass the time?”

“W-what? Gaz, we’re on a rescue mission here!” Christian flicked his hand free from Gaz’s grip, but still walked behind him.

“Oh, don’t be so dreary, dear Scientist. What’s the harm in just one joke?”

“Gaz-”

“Just one? Just one, little nerdy joke~?” Gaz begged teasingly, walking backwards while he spoke.

Pausing, Christian thought for a moment as a light bulb went off in his head. “…I do know one joke…”

“Splendid! Lay it on me, Scientist!”

“Okay… _Ahem_ …” Christian locked eyes with Gaz. “Between you and me, I don’t think we have very good… _chemistry_ …” He chuckled half-heartedly until Gaz pressed a finger to his chest, stopping him in his tracks.

“Hilarious, dear Scientist, but I beg to… _disagree_ …” He inched closer, and Christian could once again nearly smell his breath again.

“G-Gaz, this isn’t the time! N-no time to waste, remember?” Christian pushed Gaz back, blushing. “You said so yourself!”

Gaz opened his mouth to speak, but froze, his line of sight suddenly trailing to the side. As he remained like that, Christian straightened up and cocked his head in confusion.

“Gaz…?”

“Shh!” Gaz whispered. “…you hear something…?”

Pausing, Christian listened, hearing only the constant roar of water around them. Only this time, he heard a rumbling echo from the distance as well. Raising his eyebrows, he turned around, finding himself staring down the tunnel, leading to the source of constant sewage. The longer he stared, the louder the rumble became.

“…G-Gaz…?”

“Yeah…?”

“I-I just remembered something…”

“What…?”

“The weather forecast…said it was going to rain pretty hard today-”

Christian didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence. A monstrous, massive wave of rain water sloshed out from the darkness at top speed, gaining more momentum as it rushed closer.

“- _oh shit_ RUN!!!” Gaz yelled as he spun on his heels to flee with Christian close behind him. They didn’t get far however; within moments the current caught up, and engulfed both of them. Petrified, Christian held his breath and felt foul tasting water slosh around him until his head broke to the surface.

Gasping and coughing for air, he flailed his arms to stay afloat. As he spat out the sewer water, he managed to cling onto the ledge of the walkway. He leaned over coughing a few more times before his eye grew wide.

“Gaz!!” He yelled, frantically looking around him as his mind raced. Was Gaz okay? Did he know how to swim? No, he begged the King of Rats knew how to swim; the irony would be too painful otherwise.

He soon found an answer; out of the corner of his eye, he saw Gaz’s hat floating above the water near the ledge further down.

“GAZ!!!” Christian shouted before he climbed up and ran down the walkway. Upon closer inspection he found Gaz’s limp body draped over an outcropping pipe, anchoring him in place. With a grunt, Christian grabbed Gaz and dragged him up to semi-dry ground, laying him out on his back. His body remained motionless, chest not moving.

“Oh no…” Christian bit his lip. He tilted Gaz’s head slightly up to make sure the airway was open before he pressed both hands on top of Gaz’s chest and pumped. As he continued CPR, he begged for Gaz to start breathing soon, or else…or else he’d have to take drastic measures he sincerely did not want to take. Anything but that, _please_.

After a dozen pumps, Gaz still didn’t show any signs of breathing. Christian gulped, racking his brain for any alternatives. Oh, why why WHY did it come down to this? He tightened his hands into fists, then relaxed them. Fingertips twitching, he reached for Gaz’s mouth and parted his lips. He pinched Gaz’s nose with one hand and held himself up with the other, leaning over.

“ _Gulp_ …” Christian stiffened, taking a deep breath and shutting his eyes. Then he slowly, slowly leaned closer, mouth open. When he was two inches away from sealing the deal, he hesitated, his own lips twitching in apprehension. Sweat dripped from his forehead, mixing with the sewer water soaking his hair. He nervously cracked open an eye.

Then he heard a pair of lips puckering up. And they were right beneath his.

Christian’s eyes widened as he jerked back up, seeing Gaz making his lips look like a fish’s, making soft kissing sounds in anticipation.

“Hey!” Christian shoved both hands into Gaz’s face, feeling his own face burn bright pink.

“Mmf! ‘ey, wh’s th’ b’g idea?!” Gaz mumbled, his lips squished under the heel of Christian’s palm. He shoved away Christian’s hands and sat up, nearly banging his forehead against the other’s. “Are you trying to ruin my handsome face or what?”

“Are _you_ trying to give me a heart attack?!” Christian shook Gaz by the shoulders. “I thought you were…were…!”

“Calm down, Scientist, I’m here, see?” Gaz gestured to himself. “No need to worry! I am the King of Rats after all.” He smirked proudly. “What kind of rat doesn’t know how to swim?”

Christian stared blankly at Gaz for a moment before removing his glasses and running a hand down his face. “For the love of…” He sighed. “ Don’t ever scare me like that again.” Getting back to his feet, he held out a hand to Gaz. “Now let’s get back to looking for Caelan and Alice.”

Gaz grabbed Christian’s hand and let the other pull him up. Just when they were both standing, another distant roar of water reached their ears. Both men froze.

“Not again…” Christian turned to run, but Gaz grabbed him by the scarf, stopping him.

“Wait…” Gaz narrowed his eyes as he stared at the approaching wave from the other end of the tunnel. As it grew closer, he could make out a large object riding the gigantic wave. With two familiar people on it as well.

“WA-HOOOOOOO!!!” Alice shouted at the top of her lungs, her golden hair flying behind her as she held onto the edge of a makeshift raft. Meanwhile, Caelan clutched onto the back for dear life with the bangs of his damp, raven hair stuck to his forehead.

“Alice!! Caelan!!” Christian shouted, waving.

“LOOKOUT!!!” Caelan yelled.

KA-SPLOOOOOOOSH!!!

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

With a deep sigh, Christian collapsed in the wooden chair opposite of Alice’s, watching her gobble up a bowl of hot porridge. Behind her, Caelan leaned against the wall, digging his teeth into the green apple Christian had given him earlier. Everyone’s hair was still damp and warm from each taking a turn using Christian’s shower. Even now, they could hear Gaz singing a song from it as steam leaked out from behind the door and diffused throughout the mansion.

“So did you two do whatever Gaz wanted you to do back there?” Christian asked, staring at the two before him.

“More or less,” Caelan answered before taking another bite out of his apple.

“We found this-” Alice took another spoonful of porridge. “-huge piece of garbage that could float so-” Another spoonful. “-we used it to cruise through the sewers in no time and it was tons of fun!” A few more spoonfuls.

“And then you crashed into us.” Christian interjected, running his fingers through his still damp hair. At least it didn’t reek anymore.

Alice gulped and nervously chuckled. “Y-yeah, wiping out wasn’t part of the plan, heh heh…” She sheepishly rubbed the back of her head.

Christian leaned back into his chair, inhaling deeply through his nose. “Well, as long as you two are okay then that’s all that matters.”

Alice nodded heartily as she devoured her now half full bowl of porridge. Caelan watched her closely, as if worried she’d inhale the spoon and bowl as well.

A minute later, they heard the bathroom door open, and Gaz strolled out with a dramatic cloud of steam behind him. He rubbed a plush yellow towel through his chestnut brown hair while humming to himself.

“Ah, much better…” Gaz tossed the towel on the back of an empty chair and pulled it out to sit down, but Caelan interrupted him.

“Ringleader, we should probably be going now…”

“Aw, did my dear Scientist threaten to throw us out if we overstayed our welcome?” Gaz eyed Christian mischievously.

“I never said that!” Christian got up, defensive.

Caelan cleared his throat. “I-I mean we’ve still got some business back in The Catacombs, and-”

“ _Sigh_ …Oh, I suppose you’re right…” Gaz straightened up and approached Caelan, grinning lazily. “Good thing you’re my right hand man, hm?” He tapped Caelan on the nose before turning on his heels and walking away, leaving the other with a flushed face and cupping a hand over his nose.

“So when’s the wedding?” Alice teased with a full mouth.

Caelan blushed brighter and barked, “H-hey! H-he flirts with everyone! And hurry up and finish your dinner!”

As Alice ate the rest of her food with alarming speed, Christian followed Gaz, meeting him at the coat rack near the front door.

“So that’s it, huh?” He asked.

“You say something, Scientist?” Gaz stuck his arms through the sleeves of his green trench coat, dry and clean from Christian’s washing machine and dryer. It was a miracle the tattered material didn’t fall apart in the process.

“I helped you look for two people in the sewer, invited you all to my home, let you all use my shower, fed all three of you, washed all of your clothes, and no thanks?”

Gaz plucked his hat off the coat rack before he turned to Christian, raising an eyebrow.

“I…I…” Christian’s fingers twitched. “I nearly gave you mouth to mouth CPR when I thought you weren’t breathing!!”

“Oh, and how could I forget _that?_ ” Gaz stepped closer, flashing that trademark wicked grin of his. “Well, dear Scientist…” He slid his hands around Christian’s neck, smile widening at the other’s blush. “Consider _this_ as my thank you…”

Gaz leaned forward, effortlessly locking their lips together. He smiled behind the kiss at feeling Christian’s face burn, knowing his cheeks were as red as cherries. His lips tasted sweet, too, so soft and supple…

Finally breaking away, Gaz opened his eyes, amused at Christian’s completely blank expression. Slipping his hands back and sticking his hat on his head, he whispered, “Don’t forget to breathe, Scientist.” He cupped Christian’s chin. “Do we need another mouth to mouth~?”

While Christian tried to utter a coherent word, Alice and Caelan walked up, both paying full attention to the Ringleader and little to the Scientist.

“We’re ready when you are, Ringleader!” Alice chirped, brushing porridge residue from the corners of her mouth.

“Now did you two secure the Scientist’s fridge?” Gaz inquired.

“Can’t we steal his fridge some other time, Ringleader?” Caelan rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s been a long day for all of us…”

“Oh alright, alright…” Gaz waved his hands in the air before reaching for the doorknob and opening the door. “Come along then!”

As the two followed their boss, Caelan waved at Christian and Alice chirped, “Thanks for the food!” And as the door closed, Christian caught Gaz flashing a quick wink before the door shut. Christian stood there, frozen, until he let out a sigh, realizing he was holding his breath the entire time.

Maybe he should pay more heed to Gaz’s advice on breathing.

**Author's Note:**

> AN: This fandom desperately needs more fluff the fic section is literally 90% smut and I will balance that out. Also took a few liberties with Caelan and Alice because they haven’t shown up in the comic yet and I have near to zilch knowledge of their personalities, heh heh…well, enjoy! ;)


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